SARAJEVO, BOSNIA (26.04.26)
Training for Sarajevo was a bit of a struggle, I'd only managed 50 runs (350 miles) due to various back and knee injuries but I was very excited about my first trip to Bosnia. I was on my own for this one with a packed itinerary of sights to see and a (what proved to be justifiable) paranoia about my dependency on Ryanair to get me there. Sure enough the flight was cancelled due to a technical fault, another plane was found but had no crew. After a lot of farcical Ryanair-ness, I arrived into Sarajevo at 9pm and began the hunt for my apartment.
An incredibly picturesque train ride to explore stunning Mostar and Kravice Waterfalls followed the next day before a bus back the next morning. I took the cable car up Mount Trebevic to see the derelict 1984 Winter Olympics bobsled track, walking down it and jumping over the odd fallen tree. I watched a Red Bull organised 5-a-side tournament in town and then had a quick walk to Latin Bridge where Franz Ferdinand's assassination sparked WW1 in 1914. The mission to locate bananas ready for breakfast and a pasta dinner to carb-load was surprisingly tricky from my base in Bascarsija (old town) but just about successful as I got an early night ready for the early race start of 8am.
Start
After a 35 minute walk along the river, I got to the race start on Vilsonovo Šetalište near to the Bosnia History Museum at 7.30 and was surprised to see there wasn't a single toilet anywhere! Plenty of noise and a nice buzz. Eventually, mission accomplished, I lined up towards the back and listened to the national anthem before we moved forward, only a couple of minutes behind the elites. It was around 14c at 8am and I knew it was going to climb pretty quickly but the first few miles were pretty urban and tree-lined which was good. The 5K, Half Mara and Mara runners all set off together which I know makes sense from a practical perspective but it was pretty crowded and frustrating for the first couple of miles. We ran across Suada Bridge over the Miljacka river and out towards the South-West of the city. I hadn't run for 2 weeks so wasn't quite sure what to expect, my knees were a bit stiff and I was already overheating a little so decided to drop the pace and try and find my breathing rhythm.
The course went past the Grbavica Stadium, the home of Željezničar FC and then a short incline along the dual carriageway to a well manicured roundabout with orange tulips. There was a kids choir on the left and then a water station which had coffee cups a quarter-filled with water, not ideal, but I knew that could happen and had money to jump into a shop to get water if needed. After 5 miles I felt OK and was hanging out with the 2hr 15 pacer and entourage, eavesdropping on a couple of Brits chatting. The route kept heading west and was pretty well marshalled, no huge encouragement or crowds of any kind but the police seemed happy enough holding back the traffic for us. I was enjoying the mix of suburbs and lush green hills as we headed through the Stup district by the airport and famous 'Tunnel of Salvation'. A fair amount of roadkill here and another chaotic water station with a scarcity of cups but with an hour and a bit done, I was cruising along nicely.
Middle
After a fair chunk of deserted dual carriageway, the next few miles came as a welcome surprise as the course skirted the public park and nature reserve at Vrelo Bosne. The park itself is home to a number of natural springs and it was great to get out of the sun and under a canopy of tree-lined tracks as the route headed towards the halfway point. I had another couple of gels here and as much Coca Cola as I could lay my hands on from the water station, knowing how much it helped in Belfast and Skopje last year. The houses around this area were set up against the hills and looked like Alpine lodges, all very cool. I could see the finish line for the half marathon up ahead and there were a few runners sprinting towards it. Amusingly there were stickers on the road showing where the rest of us had to go and we rounded some tiny cones and headed away from the buzz of the crowd.
I was starting to get a bit hot and bothered, chucking water over my head as often as possible, the temptation to run into the petrol station and get more water was strong. But I kept my head down, trying to distract my brain and visualising the last few metres of the race. The footpaths through Veliki Park were covered in horse droppings which required a bit of maneuvering and lots of families out and about which was nice to see -though they had little interest in cheering or acknowledging the runners. Running out of the park, the view was of hills and mountains in the distance with lots of green open fields. There were a few Serbian flags on the lampposts around Kororac and approaching the airport which I found curious. I wasn't seeing too many runners in front or behind now and had to gesture to the police for directions. I'd got to about 17 miles in 3 hours which I was OK with, comfortably due to finish inside the cut off but I knew the last hour and a half would be a struggle with the temperature rising and the shade gone.
End
Running through the Dobrinja neighbourhood, I could see Mount Trebevic once more and after another water stop/drenching, the course inclined past a field of goats. I had been overtaking and then being overtaken by another runner who looked much more athletic. He had 'Jack' printed on his top and looked like he could be a Brit. We started chatting and as we were roughly the same pace, kept each other company for the last 4-5 miles. He was from Brighton and had just got into travelling around Europe to run marathons having run 40 or so in the UK. We dragged each other around the next few miles and the time passed quickly enough -his partner met him and shared some water and Coke again which was a godsend. It had been pretty flat up until the last 3 miles or so but that was about to change. I broke down to a short walk up and a solid jog down whilst chatting away about my favourite races and countries.
I finally got a good glimpse of Soviet-style brutalist architecture as I ran down Safeta Hadzica, a long straight dual carriageway packed with modular tower blocks. Oddly there were quite a few cats around this area, most looked pretty healthy and started to wander into the road as it had been shut off to traffic. Back past the football stadium and I was a couple of miles from the finish, feeling OK but mostly out of energy and sick of eating energy gels. We'd caught up a couple of runners but couldn't see any more up ahead and needed to check with the police yet again! Finally things got very urban and after one more bridge crossing, my watch hit 26.2 miles and I knew it couldn't be much longer. Running back up Wilson's Promenade, I couldn't see a finish line or hear any noise though I recognised the street a little. Although shut off to traffic there were kids playing in the road and a few cyclists about, all quite chaotic but I weaved my way through them well enough. The finish line eventually came in to view and with a weary fist pump I staggered over the line, grabbed a medal and caught up with Jack. The goodie bag was exceptional (see below!) and I lay under a tree for a bit eating and drinking it all, relieved to have got the job done.
Weather
Clear sunny skies throughout, 12c and 8am start climbing to 22c at midday with a light breeze.
Ratings
Course: 7/10 - Course moves through suburbs, park, hills and mountain backdrop before heading back via long dual carriageway.
Expo: 2/10 - Friendly enough but was a marquee with a couple of stands.
Support: 5/10 - Not much support at all away from the start/finish and half mara finish. Not many locals knew about the race!
Refreshments: 6/10 - OK but inconsistent. Half coffee cups of water, some small bottles, coke, energy drink. Ran out of cups at 2 stations
Goodie Bag: 10/10 - The best yet. Water, Energy Drinks, Donut, Banana, 3 x lager, choc bar, ham baguette, tuna, another t-shirt, lotion.
Medal & Pics: 7/10 - Free pics, only found 1 though so far. Smart medal, nice ribbon but no idea re the words on it.
Time Completed: 4.46
An incredibly picturesque train ride to explore stunning Mostar and Kravice Waterfalls followed the next day before a bus back the next morning. I took the cable car up Mount Trebevic to see the derelict 1984 Winter Olympics bobsled track, walking down it and jumping over the odd fallen tree. I watched a Red Bull organised 5-a-side tournament in town and then had a quick walk to Latin Bridge where Franz Ferdinand's assassination sparked WW1 in 1914. The mission to locate bananas ready for breakfast and a pasta dinner to carb-load was surprisingly tricky from my base in Bascarsija (old town) but just about successful as I got an early night ready for the early race start of 8am.
Start
After a 35 minute walk along the river, I got to the race start on Vilsonovo Šetalište near to the Bosnia History Museum at 7.30 and was surprised to see there wasn't a single toilet anywhere! Plenty of noise and a nice buzz. Eventually, mission accomplished, I lined up towards the back and listened to the national anthem before we moved forward, only a couple of minutes behind the elites. It was around 14c at 8am and I knew it was going to climb pretty quickly but the first few miles were pretty urban and tree-lined which was good. The 5K, Half Mara and Mara runners all set off together which I know makes sense from a practical perspective but it was pretty crowded and frustrating for the first couple of miles. We ran across Suada Bridge over the Miljacka river and out towards the South-West of the city. I hadn't run for 2 weeks so wasn't quite sure what to expect, my knees were a bit stiff and I was already overheating a little so decided to drop the pace and try and find my breathing rhythm.
The course went past the Grbavica Stadium, the home of Željezničar FC and then a short incline along the dual carriageway to a well manicured roundabout with orange tulips. There was a kids choir on the left and then a water station which had coffee cups a quarter-filled with water, not ideal, but I knew that could happen and had money to jump into a shop to get water if needed. After 5 miles I felt OK and was hanging out with the 2hr 15 pacer and entourage, eavesdropping on a couple of Brits chatting. The route kept heading west and was pretty well marshalled, no huge encouragement or crowds of any kind but the police seemed happy enough holding back the traffic for us. I was enjoying the mix of suburbs and lush green hills as we headed through the Stup district by the airport and famous 'Tunnel of Salvation'. A fair amount of roadkill here and another chaotic water station with a scarcity of cups but with an hour and a bit done, I was cruising along nicely.
Middle
After a fair chunk of deserted dual carriageway, the next few miles came as a welcome surprise as the course skirted the public park and nature reserve at Vrelo Bosne. The park itself is home to a number of natural springs and it was great to get out of the sun and under a canopy of tree-lined tracks as the route headed towards the halfway point. I had another couple of gels here and as much Coca Cola as I could lay my hands on from the water station, knowing how much it helped in Belfast and Skopje last year. The houses around this area were set up against the hills and looked like Alpine lodges, all very cool. I could see the finish line for the half marathon up ahead and there were a few runners sprinting towards it. Amusingly there were stickers on the road showing where the rest of us had to go and we rounded some tiny cones and headed away from the buzz of the crowd.
I was starting to get a bit hot and bothered, chucking water over my head as often as possible, the temptation to run into the petrol station and get more water was strong. But I kept my head down, trying to distract my brain and visualising the last few metres of the race. The footpaths through Veliki Park were covered in horse droppings which required a bit of maneuvering and lots of families out and about which was nice to see -though they had little interest in cheering or acknowledging the runners. Running out of the park, the view was of hills and mountains in the distance with lots of green open fields. There were a few Serbian flags on the lampposts around Kororac and approaching the airport which I found curious. I wasn't seeing too many runners in front or behind now and had to gesture to the police for directions. I'd got to about 17 miles in 3 hours which I was OK with, comfortably due to finish inside the cut off but I knew the last hour and a half would be a struggle with the temperature rising and the shade gone.
End
Running through the Dobrinja neighbourhood, I could see Mount Trebevic once more and after another water stop/drenching, the course inclined past a field of goats. I had been overtaking and then being overtaken by another runner who looked much more athletic. He had 'Jack' printed on his top and looked like he could be a Brit. We started chatting and as we were roughly the same pace, kept each other company for the last 4-5 miles. He was from Brighton and had just got into travelling around Europe to run marathons having run 40 or so in the UK. We dragged each other around the next few miles and the time passed quickly enough -his partner met him and shared some water and Coke again which was a godsend. It had been pretty flat up until the last 3 miles or so but that was about to change. I broke down to a short walk up and a solid jog down whilst chatting away about my favourite races and countries.
I finally got a good glimpse of Soviet-style brutalist architecture as I ran down Safeta Hadzica, a long straight dual carriageway packed with modular tower blocks. Oddly there were quite a few cats around this area, most looked pretty healthy and started to wander into the road as it had been shut off to traffic. Back past the football stadium and I was a couple of miles from the finish, feeling OK but mostly out of energy and sick of eating energy gels. We'd caught up a couple of runners but couldn't see any more up ahead and needed to check with the police yet again! Finally things got very urban and after one more bridge crossing, my watch hit 26.2 miles and I knew it couldn't be much longer. Running back up Wilson's Promenade, I couldn't see a finish line or hear any noise though I recognised the street a little. Although shut off to traffic there were kids playing in the road and a few cyclists about, all quite chaotic but I weaved my way through them well enough. The finish line eventually came in to view and with a weary fist pump I staggered over the line, grabbed a medal and caught up with Jack. The goodie bag was exceptional (see below!) and I lay under a tree for a bit eating and drinking it all, relieved to have got the job done.
Weather
Clear sunny skies throughout, 12c and 8am start climbing to 22c at midday with a light breeze.
Ratings
Course: 7/10 - Course moves through suburbs, park, hills and mountain backdrop before heading back via long dual carriageway.
Expo: 2/10 - Friendly enough but was a marquee with a couple of stands.
Support: 5/10 - Not much support at all away from the start/finish and half mara finish. Not many locals knew about the race!
Refreshments: 6/10 - OK but inconsistent. Half coffee cups of water, some small bottles, coke, energy drink. Ran out of cups at 2 stations
Goodie Bag: 10/10 - The best yet. Water, Energy Drinks, Donut, Banana, 3 x lager, choc bar, ham baguette, tuna, another t-shirt, lotion.
Medal & Pics: 7/10 - Free pics, only found 1 though so far. Smart medal, nice ribbon but no idea re the words on it.
Time Completed: 4.46